Taking Care of Mort
by Sandrei20
Summary: Mort is banished from King Julien's kingdom. Marlene and Skipper decide to take care of him.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE: PUNISHMENT

Marlene was having a nice stroll across the park when she heard King Julien shouting something out in rage. His voice could be heard in the most remote part of the zoo. Mason and Phil were sitting on the top of the tree, bananas stuck up in their ears.  
Marlene caught a snatch of King Julien's angry sermon and she realized he must had been scolding Mort again.  
"It's probably da feet stuff" she thought as she walked up to the lemurs habitat.  
"I have enough!" roared King Julien, goggling his eyes at Mort. "I told you not to overuse my patience, but now things have gone definitevly too far! You keep disobeying my orders, and I am pretty sick of it! You made me mad, absolutely mad! Therefore!.. he sustained his voice for a while. "Therefore I'm banishing you from my Kingdom!" he finished, stretching his arms in a theatrical gesture. "At least for this day! And you ARE NOT allowed to join our Monkey Assembly today!" Maurice was standing right next to the throne, his face calm and motionless as usuall. He seemed to be totally nonplussed with what was going on, waiting patiently for his King to calm down.  
Marlene climbed on the top of the fence and watched the three lemurs attentively. Maurice spotted her after a short while and grunted:  
"Erm.. your Majesty.. we've got company!"  
"And what brings YOU here?" snapped King Julien,eyeing Marlene with an unpleasant look. Marlene gulped and gripped the wall with her paws. His eyes were blood shot and his whole body was shaking from anger. She never saw him so pissed.  
"What exactly made you throw a fit like that?" she asked bravely, slidding off of the wall. "  
"Mort has been banished from King Julien's Kingdom for disobeying his least for a day" informed her Maurice. "He is also banned from joining our Monkey Assembly which is going to be held tonight at 11 o clock p.m. "  
"B..but Julien! Mort was really looking forward to attending this meeting! He's been waiting for it for two weeks!" gasped Marlene. "You can't just...!"  
"Oh yes I can! This is MY Kingdom and I will do as I please!" grumpled King Julien, folding his arms and turning his head away.  
Marlene took a quick glance at Mort who was sitting under the throne, clutching his tail with his paws. She saw tears forming in his black eyes.  
"Congratulations, Julien!" mumbled Marlene. "You've already made him cry! Is that what you just wanted?"  
"My decision is IR RE VER SI BLE!" scanded Julien slowly, poking his finger at Marlene's chest. "And neither your pleading nor Mort's sobbing is going to change my -ah! You're waisting your time here." He then turned his back on her and called to his second servant:  
"Maurice! Bring me my new outfit! I should prepare myself for the meeting!" Maurice nodded his head submissively and headed off towards the lemur's secret storage magasine. "And don't forget to clean my crown!"  
Marlene glanced at Mort again. A small tear slid off his eyelid and streamed down his cheek.  
"Come on" she whispered to him gently, wrapping her paws against his delicate wrist. Mort layed her watery eyes on her, despair and consternation written all over his face. He eventually let himself being dragged away from the lemurs habitat.  
As they had finally found themselves outside the wall, Marlene kneeled down right next to Mort and looked straight into his eyes. She could hear him sobbing quietly under his nose.  
"Naaaw, Mort, calm down and tell me what's been going on."  
Mort couldnt utter a world because he suddenly burst out crying. It took some time for Marlene to calm him down. She took his hand in hers and lifted him carefully up.  
"Hey, Mort, how about a little walk? We can go to the nearest souvenir shop and take a peek inside. There are lots of nice, colorful pendandts hanging on the window. You will tell me everything on our way, alright?" she said.  
Mort nodded his head, still sobbing.  
They started their walk through the pavement, Marlene holding Mort tightly by hand.  
"It was all about that feet stuff again, wasn't it? she asked rethorically, adjusting her pace of walk to Morts quiet stamp.  
" Yes... King Julien got angry at me... and banned me from joining the Monkey Assembly. He promised me to take me along. But I got banned for my disobedience! That's why I won't be allowed to join! he rubbed his left eye with his fist. "There is going to be lots of tasty food.. rawspbeeries... coconuts.. and my favourite kinds of bananas!And dancing!"  
"Now Mort.. quit thinking about that!" pleaded Marlene, leaning over him and touching his chin with her paws delicatelly. "It will only make you feel worse. I know that King Julian's decision is irreversible.. yet.. it's not the end of the world! The earth keeps spinning around and we really should not keep bothering abouth things we have no impact on, right?" she gave him a warm smile.  
Mort nodded his head in silence, his cute face distorted in painful grimace.  
"All we have to do is to move on" continued Marlene. Then she frowned. She could hear Skipper's commanding voice somewhere in the distance. He was shouting out orders to the rest of the team his voice strong and firm as usuall. She realized that they were very close to the penguins habitat right on earth did they find themselfes here? Did she choose this path subconciously?

"Twirl, punch, kick, spin, backwards, forwards, punch, corkscrew!" Marlene turned her head around and gazed at the penguins, especially at the one with sapphire-blue eyes, watching attentively his every move. A firm grip of Morts paws clutching her wrist brought her down to earth. She looked at the little fellow's face.  
"Dear me, Mort, you really need a handkerchief" she stated and started searching in her pockets to get one, but she couldn't find it anywhere. She eventually picked a leaf from the ground and handed it to Mort.  
"Ain't gonna fly, sister" she heard Skipper's voice behind. She startled and jumped up in shock.  
"It might give him a nasty infection".  
"Skipper, what exactly did I tell you about giving me a start like this?" she snapped to her colleauge, her heart whomping like crazy.  
"Easy now, Marlene." replied Skipper,smiling with the corner of his beak.  
He waddled up to Mort and took a quick glance at his delicate face bathed in tears.  
"What is it, Sad Eyes? he asked. His voice was firm and stable, yet Marlene could see a glimpse of concern and care in his sapphire-blue eyes.  
"It's King Julian again" she informed him and rolled her eyes. "Mort has been kicked out from King Julian's Kingdom and he's got nowhere to go. Altough the banishment is only temporary, Mort isn't allowed to join one of their top secret meetings tonight.  
"With rawspbeeries, coconuts and bananas!" added Mort sheepishly and distorted his lips in a painful grimace ready to burst out crying again.  
"And that's what's bothering you? asked Skipper, squinting his eye in astonishment.  
"Did you ever get a chance to say something during those meetings, Mort?" asked Marlene, leaning over Mort, her paws resting on her knees.  
"I truely doubt that Marlene." mumbled Skipper.  
"oh well.. yeah.." said Marlene and looked up the sky, confused.  
"Maybe you should think about some sort of a practicall activity for Mort " adviced Skipper, scrubbing his chin with a thoughtfull look. "Something that would keep him busy for the rest of the day and make him forget about that goddamned meeting. His world cannot just spin around King Julien's caprices and whims."  
"Well, yeah. He is still a kid. He should enjoy life!" admitted Marlene and patted Mort gently on the head. She forced herself to smile, but there was that strange feeling of rancour deep down inside her. What was this all about? She was really looking forward to taking care of Mort, she wanted to make him feel better. But...  
She raised her eyes on Skipper, who was talking to Mort in calming words."How about doing it with Skipper?" Her heart sank. "Naaah.. there's no way he would agree. He has to go back and take care of his own team. They haven't finished their training yet. Or... maybe?"  
"Skipper, how long have you been having your training excersises over there?" she asked with a ray of hope.  
"We've just started." mumbled Skipper fuzzily, leaning over Mort and cleaning his nose with his own white handkerchief.  
"Ah, okay" she mumbled, trying to smother the note of dissapointment and frustration in her voice.  
"You can keep this one, Sad Eyes" smiled Skipper when Mort wanted to give him back his handkerchief. He turned his eyes on Marlene and patted her friendly on the back. "Do your best, Marlene" he said warmly. "Figure something out for this little guy, take him to the park or maybe.. RICO, PRIVATE, NO! " he screamed all of a sudden, goggling in horror at his team mates, who were now wolfing down some crisps from a black package."Xcuse me, Marlene" he mumbled and hurried back to his HQ.  
"Fish and chips, man! Where on earth did you get that stuff?" she heard Skipper's annoyed voice, echoing all over their habitat. He picked up the package and shook it violently. Several crumbs of crisps came out of it. Rico and Private stared at his leader, guilty and panic written all over their faces.  
"Some kids must have left it near the fence". informed Kowalski who was standing nearby. "I told them not to put too much interest into it as we don't know what it is, but they wouldn't even listen to me! "We should taste a bit of everything in our life, ey, Private?" he said, mocking Private's chidlish voice.  
"Well that's the most ridiculous motto I've ever heard in my life." barked Skipper, throwing the package away. "You guys realize you might get sick after eating that trash?"  
He got a lourd burp coming from Rico's throat as an answer.  
"Let's sit down on a bench, shall we? We'll try to make some plans for the day" proposed Marlene. Mort nodded his head in silence and they both headed over towards the nearest bench.


	2. Chapter 2: In the park

CHAPTER TWO: IN THE PARK

Marlene and Mort were sitting on a wooden park bench, with their faces turned towards the sun.  
"Feeling better, Mort?" asked Marlene, stealing a glance at little Lemur.  
Mort nodded his head with alacrity. He was busy watching a colorful butterfly flying hereabouts in the park.  
There was another wave of rancour that overtook her mind. She felt a nasty emptiness in the pit of her stomach. Something was bothering her. But she didn't have a clue what it really was. She let out a deep sigh and clutched her paws tightly.  
Suddenly she heard someone coming by. She turned her head back and froze. It was Skipper. He was waddling up towards their direction, his arms folded back. She could hear him muttering to himself:  
"Cherry one for Rico, rawspberry one for Kowalski, strawberry one for Private.. cherry one for Rico.. rawspberry one for Kowalski, strawberry one for Private... Cherry one... oh hey, Marlene! How is it going?" he asked, faint smile brightening his face.  
"We're just having a nice sunbath on the bench" replied Marlene, grinning back at him.  
"Is Mort feeling any better?"  
"Yeah, I guess he is" she said. "At least much better than he did an hour ago.. but what's up with the rest of the team? What's with Rico and Private? Are they okay?"  
"Well right now they are" answered Skipper, fixing his eyes on the ground. "But there has been a small sickness emergency due to that crisps trash, you know, the one I caught them stuffing themselves with. Kowalski is taking care of them. I'm out to buy some snowcones for them, you know.. just to make them regain good frame of mind. It always helps." he winked at her.  
Marlene blushed slightly.  
"How is it going, little fella?" asked Skipper, leaning over Mort who was now sitting on the ground and drawing some penguin figures with his blue chalk. "This one looks like Kowalski!" he laughed, pointing at one of the portraits with his flipper. "Surely, Mort has got a talent."  
"Yeah I've noticed that too. He's always been showing great interest in drawing." nodded Marlene.  
There was a short pause.  
"He wanted to play in a sandbox but there are lots of kids over there right now" she pointed with her head at the nearest playground, full of toddlers.  
"It may take a while until they're done" admitted Skipper. Then his walkie talkie rang.  
"How is it going, Kowalski?" he asked. "Feeling any better? Well, that's good.. yeah, okay.. well I'm in the park right now.. I'm sitting on a bench with Mort and Marlene" which he just did, by hopping up on the bench and placing himself right next to the otter, his left back scuffing slightly against Marlene's fur. Marlene shivered a little bit. "Alright, soldier. Take good care." He switched off and turned his attention to Marlene.  
"Rico and Private are back on their feet again, thankfully. Rico is watching TV and Private is cleaning his bunk." he reported, and hid his walkie talkie in his pocket. "Seems like there is no need for me to hurry." he stated, gazing somewhere out in the space.  
Marlene smothered the grin twisting her lips and choked quietly. She didn't say anything but... if Skipper could only see that invisible, white comic cloud of: "Yaynesssss!" forming above her head.  
"The sandbox is all clear now" informed Skipper and patted Mort on the head. "you can go and enjoy yourself, Sad Eyes."  
"Yaaay!" tweeted Mort, dropped his blue chalk and ran towards the playground. He threw himself on the sand and started rolling over to and fro, clouds of dust floating up in the air.  
"So good to see him feel better" confessed Marlene with Mort's joyfull, childish laugh in the background.  
Then she noticed a small, puffy squirrel, peeking at Mort from behind the tree. He was holding a big hazel nut in his paw and biting it nervously with his teeth. Marlene realized he must had been around Mort's age.  
"See that little guy other there?" she asked Skipper and pointed her paw at the opposite tree.  
"Seems like he is looking forward to playing with Mort."  
"Hey, Sad Eyes! You've got company!" cried Skipper.  
Mort froze for a while and glanced at Skipper with his eyes wide open. Then he turned his head around and spotted the squirrel.  
"Hii!" chirped the squirrel and waved to Mort with his paw. He sneaked out of the bush and leaped up towards the sandbox, pressing a couple of hazel nuts to his fury chest. "Wanna try some nuts?" he offered.  
"Yey, suuuure!" answered Mort somewhat confused and astonished.  
"My name is Albie!" said the squirrel. "I live in that tree, other there. My Mum is preparing dinner right now but she said I could play in the park for a while." He stretched his hand with a hazel nut and offered it Mort. Mort accepted the gift, rejoiced and started consuming.  
"Let' make a sandcastle!" proposed Albie, grabbing one of the plastic buckets. "I love making sandcastles!"  
"Aawwww... just look at them, isn't that cute?" said Marlene, clasping her paws together.  
Skipper nodded his head thoughtfully, and smiled gently.  
"Have you been to this park before?" asked Albie, filling the bucket with sand.  
"M-mm!" mumbledd Mort, evidently upset.  
Skipper and Marlene exchanged mouthfull looks.  
"Because I come and play here almost every day!" continued Albie. "But only after kids are gone. One of them tried to chase me all over the park. He almost got me!.. and oh! Have you seen my brand new bicycle?" he pointed at the small yellow bike lying under the tree.  
Mort widened his eyes in astonishment.  
"My Mom bought it for me two days ago. It's fantastic!" he said proudly. "Wanna try?"  
Mort curled up and covered himself with his tail which he always did whenever he felt embarrassed or stressed.  
"Don't tell me you never rode I bicycle before?" said Albie, squinting his eye in astonishment.  
"Poor Mort" mumbled Marlene to herself on hearing this conversation.  
Mort shivered.  
"Oh come on, now, it's easy, I'll show you!" said Albie. He hopped on the saddle, grabbed both handlebars in his paws and started making slow circles around the sandbox.  
"See? It's not that tough!" he cried cheerfuly.  
"Albie dear, dinner is ready!" said Mother Squirrel.  
Albie pressed the break cable and stopped his bike.  
"My Mom's calling me, I gotta go. But you can borrow my bike and practice a little bit. You can leave it under my hollow by the time you're done. T'was really nice to meet you Mort! I hope we'll see each other soon!" he waved to him and leaped back to his hollow.  
"Never rode a bike before, eh?" remarked Skipper, waddling up towards Mort.  
Mort dropped his head.  
"Why won't you just try? There is nothing to be afraid of!"  
"Do you want Skipper to teach you?" asked Marlene, smiling. "Come on, Mort, it will be fun!"  
Mort peeked at Skipper from behind his bushy til, fear and anxiety written all over his face.  
"Nothing bad is going to happen to you as long as we're by your side" assumed Skipper.  
Marlene's heart throbbed. She got that strange feeling, that she'd already heard that line before. Wasn't that two weeks ago, when the penguins wanted to sneak out of the zoo to buy some snowcones and invited her to join in?  
Skipper lifted Mort from the ground and placed him on the saddle. "I'll secure you from the back" he said. "All you have to do is to keep the balance when riding. Try not do make any violent moves, otherwise you'll fall over. Now grab the handlebars tightly and put your feet on the pedals. That's it.."  
"You can make it Mort!" chirped Marlene, putting her thumbs up.  
"See, everything is fine!" said Skipper, stamping carefully after. He was holding his left flipper on the back of the saddle, keeping an eye on Mort's each move. "Just calm down" he added, when Mort started to shake. "Keep the balance, soldier! Remember! Fear is your worst enemy!"  
Two minutes later Mort started to make evident progress.  
"Now try a little faster!" said Skipper.  
"But don't let me go!" asked Mort, clutching the handbars in his paws.  
"Nah, of course I won't!" replied Skipper, menacing smile twisting his beak. Mort nodded his head and increased the speed.  
"Nice and easy, Mort, nice and easy!" repeated Skipper. He winked to Marlene, and carefully removed his flipper from the saddle.  
"Make sure you don't let go!" cried Mort, pedaling jauntily along.  
"Congratulations, soldier, you did it!" cried Skipper, Marlene laughing heartedly.  
"Well done!"  
"Yaaaay!" tweeted Mort, against Skipper's and Marlene's clapping.  
"You really ARE a good teacher, Skipper!" said Marlene.  
"Guilty and charge!" replied Skipper blushing slightly and giggled.

After two hours of joyfull ride, Skipper, Mort and Marlene gave the bicycle back to squirrels house. Mort ran back towards the playground and hopped on a swing.  
"You're hungry, Mort?" asked Skipper, waddling up to him. "Look what I've found. One of those kids has left a banana on the grass. I guess this is your favourite!"  
"Yay!" Mort stretched his hand out to grab the banana.  
"But only after you're done with the swing, soldier!" stated Skipper. "Otherwise you're gonna have a nasty stomach ache."

Five minutes later, when Mort was wolfing down his favourite banana, Marlene spotted something round and red, shining between the leaves.  
"Look Skipper, there is a balloon tangled up between the tree branches." she said, pointing at the nearest tree. "Some kid must have left it there. Mort, do you want me to pull it down for you?"  
"Yay!" answered Mort, jumping in joy.  
"All right, so you wait here guys and keep an eye, and I will go and climb up" commanded Marlene and sneaked up to the tree trunk. She hopped on the branch, reached her left paw and grabbed the string of the balloon, then hopped smoothly down. But she found herself light enough for baloon to lift her up two feet above the ground.  
"Hold on, sister, I will pull you down!" said Skipper. He waddled up to Marlene, with Mort hurrying after.  
"Geese, at least something good has come out of my newest diet!" commented Marlene. "Seems like I've lost another two kilos! That's great!"  
"To be honest with you, Marlene, you and Mort are the last animals in the zoo which should go on a diet." remarked Skipper.  
Marlene shivered when she felt Skipper wrapping his strong flippers around her waist.  
"There you go" he said, when she had finally found herself on the ground. "Now we should think about something which would make this balloon heavier".  
"Yeah, I guess we should" said Marlene unvoluntairly, still reliving the complement she had just heard from her colleauge. "That was really nice indeed" she thought, pink blush covering her cheeks.  
Then she heard a toddler sobbing somewhere in the distance.  
"My balloon!" they heard him crying out desperately.  
"Oh God.. seems like someone IS looking for it" she stated.  
They both looked at Mort, pain and dissapointment written all over his face.  
"You know what is going on, don't you, little fella?" asked Skipper delicately. "That little guy has lost his balloon and is now searching through the whole park, looking for it."  
"You surely don't want him to cry, do you, Mort?" asked Marlene gently, leaning over the lemur and stroking his hair. "Seems like he's really looking forward to finding it. How about we give it back to him, ha? That will be a good deed!" she stated, nodding her heard with alacrity.  
Mort lips trembled. She glanced at his balloon, swinging happily in the air, and let out a painful sigh.  
"All right" he said languidly, dropping his head.  
"No need to worry, Mort" said Skipper. "I'm gonna ask Rico to regurgirate you one, once we get back to our HQ".  
"There you see?" asked Marlene. "All right, guy's, I'm gonna tangle this balloon somewhere in the bushes so the kids can notice."

"Okay, guys, how about getting some snowcones?" proposed Skipper when Marlene rejoined them five minutes later (the boy with the baloon was now withdrawing towards the central park gate, carrying his bane along and jumpying joyfully across the path).  
"I have to get a rawspberry one for Rico, strawberry one for Private.. no! Rawspberry one for Kowalski, cherry one for Private... Damnit, I've forgot!" he snapped, clasping his flipper against his forehead."I'd better call them" he stated and pulled out his walkie talkie from the pocket. "Excellante! The battery is off!" he mumbled.  
"You can always get them a multiflavoured one!" proposed Marlene.  
"That's the idea!" laughed Skipper. "You're going to get some as well, Sad Eys, not to worry" he added up quickly and patted Mort on the head.  
"Tell me Mort, what is your favourite flav... ah yes, all right, silly me, I guess it will be banana!" she chirped.  
"With coconut!" added Skipper. "Would you like some coconut - banana snowcone, Mort?"  
"Yaaay!" jumped Mort.

"You see, don't need that much to make him happy again!" smiled Skipper. "All right then, let's go. It's getting late."

***

"Uh- oh.. looks like someone's feeling sleepy" commented Marlene, seeing Mort's eyelids falling down languidly. They had just finished eating their snowcones. Mort was clutching a bag of delicacies they had bought for him. Skipper was carrying three multiflavoured snowcones for Kowalski, Rico and Private in his both flippers.  
"No wonder, he had a really busy day" he stated.  
"What shall we do with him. He is on the verge of falling asleep" said Marlene with Mort's loud yawning in the backround.  
"Okay then, you take care of the snowcones and I will carry Sad Eyes" decided Skipper, handing her the ice-creams. "We should also cover him with somehting just to keep him warm" he spotted a lost green towel hanging over the fence.  
"This one will do" he stated. He wrapped Mort in the towel and lifted him up. "Of we go, soldier!" he commanded and they headed off towards the penguin's HQ.


	3. Chapter 3: In Penguin's HQ

CHAPTER THREE: In Penguin's HQ

It was about 9 pm when Skipper and Marlene had finally returned to penguins HQ. Mort was curled up in Skipper's arms and was sleeping like a baby.  
"SNOWCOOOOOONES!" cried the rest of the penguins, goggling their eyes at multiflavoured ice creams Marlene was carrying.  
Mort wriggled uncomfortably and opened his eyes. There was a loud yawn.  
"Oh, he's already waking up" noticed Marlene.  
Mort rubbed his eyes with his fists and took a languid look around.  
"Recognise this place, soldier?" asked Skipper warlmly, putting Mort down on the floor.  
Rico winked at Mort, grabbed his snowcone and waddled back towards the TV.  
"Hey, there, Mort!" chirped Private, peeking down from his bunk and waving his flipper. Mort waved back and smiled shyly.  
"Can I see Kowalski's lab?" he asked, turning his puppy eyes at Skipper and Marlene. Skipper shot a quick glance at Kowalski, who was standing in front of the table. He was too busy enjoying his snowcone to heart Mort's question.  
"Well.. okay.. but don't touch anything" warned Skipper. "Trust me, Kowalski is calm as a lamb, up until you make some damage to his inventions." he whispered back to Marlene.  
"Me, I've never seen KOWALSKI throwing a fit!" said Marlene.  
"I'd rather if you didn't get the chance, sister" mumbled Skipper. Meanwhile Mort grabbed his favourite blue chalk and leaped towards Kowalski's open laboratory, singing with joy.

Ten minutes later...

"No, not on my brand new laboratory desk!" gasped Kowalski, clutching his head with his flippers. The whole desk was covered with Mor'ts blue drawnings. The lemur was sitting in the corner, clutching his bushy tail in his paws, his eyes big and watery. Meanwhile Skipper bursted inside to check out the situation.  
"What the heck is going on?" he asked.  
"Skipppppppeeeeeeeer!" cried Kowalski, pointig at the table with his flipper. There was a dangerous note of hysteria in his voice and Skipper knew perfectly well, what it was about to announce.  
"Mort, Mort, why won't you come with me, little fella, ey?" he whispered, taking Mort by hand. He wanted to drag Mort away from the lab before Kowalski would throw a fit and say something inappropiate.  
"I will clean it up for you Kowalski! Just stay calm! Don't scold on him, He's just a kid, all right?" he called to his soldier before getting out of the lab.

"Here you go, Sad Eyes. " said Skipper, offering Mort a pile of white paper sheets. " You can draw on it as much as you please".  
"Where did you find those, Skipper?" tweeted Private, goggling at the sheets in astonishment.  
"I found it yesterday, wallowing in the TV corner. At least there will be some use of them. Seeing how much is the little guy keen on drawing". he patted Mort on the cheek and headed off towards the table. "You can join him as well, Private" he added. "You're pretty good at drawing little ducks, maybe you could show him".  
"Aye, Skippa!" tweeted Private and clapped his flippers. "That's a wonderful idea!" he waddled up towards his bunk and pulled out a small box of colorful pencils. Several seconds later, they both sat on the ground and started drawing. Meanwhile Skipper and Marlene were having another round of chess, sipping catfish coffee, bantering with each other and crying out "Boomshakana!" every once in a while. Kowalski locked himself up in his lab, making a thorough survey on his brand new invention. He popped out for a few seconds just to ask Rico to regurgirate a rawspberry chewing gum for him.  
"Booomshakadink!" cried Skipper, placing his chessman on Marlene's field. He then set his eyes on Rico who was sitting motionless in front of the TV, gazing at the screen, his tounge sticking out from the left side of his beak. "This guy is really something." he mumbled to Marlene. "Staring at the TV screen for three hours?"  
"By the way, Skipper, Isn't it just the time they are showing those kids programmes on Channel 4?" asked Marlene, turning her head towards the TV. "Maybe Mort would get interested".  
"Affirmative, sister" agreed Skipper. "Rico! Why won't you give yourself a break and let those kids enjoy the telly instead?"  
"Ma aaah!" protested Rico, evidently annoyed and waved his flippers in protest.  
"Just look at yourself, boy! Your eyes are bloodshot, and you haven't done anything today besides gazing at the screen and wolfing down popcorn!"  
Rico gave him a grunt look, got up from the floor and headed towards the fridge, muttering something under his nose. He was half of his way when Mort picked up a paper sheet with Rico's portrait on it and stretched it towards the second tallest penguin.  
"Look, this is you with your favourite dolly!" he chirped grinning at Rico from the ground.  
Rico stopped, astonished and somewhat confused. He took the paper sheet in his flippers and made an oblong:  
"Aaaaaaaaaaw!"  
"See Rico?" smiled Skipper. "No need to hold grudge against such a cute little fella".  
"All right, guys, here is your program!" announced Marlene, pointing at the TV with the remote control.  
Mort and Private put their chalks aside and placed themselves in front of the TV. When the programme was over, everybody settled down to supper (heering, bread, bananas and coconut cream). Private and Mort decided to entertain themselves by picking some piece grains in their forks and shooting it at the others, giggling menacingly.  
"Abragbha!" protested Rico, when one of it hit him in the left side of his beak.  
"Boys, behave yourself" said Skipper, trying to hide the grin leaking on his beak. He then turned his attention to Marlene who was enjoying her salad in silence.  
"I think it's raining outside" he said.  
Marlene put her fork aside and listened carefully.  
"Yep, right you are. It is."  
"It's raining stronger and stronger" continued Skipper, blushing slightly under his feathers. "Do you really think you will manage getting back to your habitat in such an awful weather?"  
Marlene gripped her paws under the table and swallowed.  
(Is he.. attempting to.. oh, naaaah.. he wouldn't. What about the others? Or maybe he is..)  
"Because, you know.."  
(Say it! Say it!)  
".. you and Mort could stay here overnight... if you want" finished Skipper.  
"Well, thank you very much, Skipper" started Marlene.  
"It's no problem for us, your'e welcome!" chirped Skipper, as if afraid to hear her refusal.  
Marlene felt a hot wave of exitement overtaking her body. She was in such a state of joy that she didn't even hear Kowalski asking her for the third time to pass him some salt.  
"Thanks, Skipper" she wispered gratefully, her heart thumping like mad. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Between the words

Marlene woke up at 7:33. She was quite suprised to find herself in the Penguins habitat but she soon realized why was she here: Mort. He was sleeping on the other side of the room, curled up in two, covered with a yellow blanket, sucking his thumb dreamily.  
Skipper was already on his feet, walking up and around in the HQ and preparing breakfast. He spotted Marlene observing him and sent her a warm smile.  
"How was your sleep, sista?" he talked her down and winked to her.  
Marlene blushed slighlty and straightened herself up.  
"Very good, thank you" she answered, trying to sound still.  
"God, he's got the most beautiful smile ever!" she thought to herself, when covering her sleeping mate with a green bedspread. Then she started to fight with her sleeping bag. Skipper put his catfish coffee aside and waddled up to Marlene:  
"Here, let me help you". he mumbled, when kneeling down on the floor and taking the sleeping bag in his own flippers. She loved the way he was dealing with it: his moves were quick and decisive, obviously thanks to his experience he had gained throughout his military days. "Surely he must have had dealt with plenty of sleeping bags at this time" she thought to herself.  
"There you go" said Skipper proudly, handing her the bag.  
He got up to his feet and stole a quick glance at Mort, who was stretching himself on his bed and yawning loudly.  
"Seems like our little fella has already woke up" he stated.  
"Do you think that King Julien regrets his behaviour?" asked Marlene shyly.  
"I'd rather he did. He treated Mort badly and made him upset. But we shall see soon, 'll escort Mort back to lemurs habitat right after breakfast.

***  
"Say goodbye to Mort, guys. We're taking him back to King Julien's habitat!" said Marlene three hours later.  
"This is for you, Mort" said Private. He waddled up to Mort and offered him his own drawing, depicting Mort and the rest of the team, watching TV and eating Popcorn. "I've had a really great time with you" he confessed, fixing his eyes on the floor and sniffed loudly.  
"There there, Private, it's not like you're not going to see each other ever again!" said Skipper, patting the youngest penguin on the back. "Actually you live across the sidewalk from him".  
"Yep, that's right!" added Marlene.  
Marlene Mort and Skipper were just about to start climbing up the ladder, when Rico leaped up towards them.  
"Arbraghaha!" he exclaimed and regurgitated a big, yellow baloon with a red, smiley face on it. He handed it to Mort and grinned at him.  
"Balloon!" cried Mort happily, and clutched the string in his paws tightly.  
"See, Mort, it looks exactly the same as the red one from the park!" commented Marlene, when they had finally found themselfs outside penguins Habitat.  
They were now moving slowly towards Kings Juliens habitat. Skipper sensed immediately that Mort was becoming more nad more stressed.  
"No need to worry, Mort. Just stay calm." he said.  
"I wonder what King Julien is going to say when he sees him".  
"He would do well if he behaved calm. I'm going to give him a little talk as soon as we get there" mumbled Skipper. He felt Mort's paws squeezing his flippers tightly.

***

"Wow, it's one of those rare times, when I see King Julien being moved by such a struck of conscience" commented Marlene, glancing back at King Julien craddling Mort in his arms and crying his eyes out.  
"He must have been missing him after all" agreed Skipper.  
Marlene looked up the sky and gulped. It was all covered with gloomy, grey clouds. She felt the first drop of water on her fur and shrugged slightly.  
"Seems like it's going to rain" she muttered.  
Several seconds later the rain increased rapidly.  
Skipper pulled out the yellow blanket and wrapped it over Marlene's head.  
"I'll escort you back to your habitat" he decided quickly, pulling the rest of the blanket over his own body.  
"Thank's Skipper" she whispered gratefully, trying to calm her rapid heartbeat.  
They continued their march along the pavement. Each time she felt Skipper's flipper scuffing gently against her own fur, she could feel shivers running up and down her spine. She'd never found herself that close to him before. Not that she didn't enjoy it, of course... But will she be ever able to break the first ice creams? But she was too afraid of commiting an irreversible mistake. Altough she knew that she was completely left alone with him, and that nobody would get the chance to oversee them right now because of the rain.., she couldn't get through it. "But if not now.. then.. when? Ah.. damnit!"  
"Skipper..." he whispered, turning her head.  
"Marlene.." he said at the same time, turning his sapphire blue eyes on her.  
They both stopped cut and remained silent for a couple of seconds. Marlene saw Skipper's flippers clutching the ribs of the blanket convulsively. She shivered.  
"You're cold?" he asked his voice full of concern.  
"Naaah, it's nothing!" she smiled, but she kept shivering like crazy.  
She gazed. Skipper moved his head slightly forwards; his beak was now only several inches away from her face.  
There was a loud BANG.  
Both Skipper and Marlene turned their heads back in astonishment, just to investigate the cause of the noise.  
It was Frankie the Pigeon: he accidentaly crashed against the tree trunk, his grey feathers floating languildly up in the air.  
He let out a painful groan and collapsed on the ground.  
Skipper and Marlene exchanged looks and rushed up towards the tree to check on Frankie the Pigeon's condition.  
"Frank! Speak to me man!" cried Skipper, anxiety and concern written all over his face.  
"Sorry, guys.." mumbled the pigeon, eyeing the pair with his rufeul eyes. "Seems like I've exaggerated this time"..  
"Exaggerated? With what?" asked Marlene, leaning against him.  
"There was a couple of cups with unfinished drinks on the table.. you know.. went to that openair restaurant again.. t'was tasty.. really really tasty..."  
"Don't tell me you.. oh my God, Skipper is he drunk?"  
"I'm afraid it's affirmative, sister" mumbled Skipper, taking Frankie's wing into his flipper and checking his pulse. "I guess we should take care of the poor thing".  
"You two make an incredibly cute pair, you know that?" mumbled Frankie. "Seems like I've accidentaly disturbed you in something, ey..?" He lifted his head up and gave them a goofy smile.  
There was a long, uncomfortable pause.  
"Teheheh, I knew that..." giggled Frankie the Pigeon: he then banged his head back against the ground and passed out.


End file.
